The Balance of the Man

Today, I read an article by James Bowman over at Armavirumque. The author compares Barak Obama to the Scarecrow and John McCain to the Lion, both characters in The Wizard of Oz. His thought goes something like this: Obama represents someone who will think his way to avoid danger, and McCain will deal with danger when confronted by it. (Bowman cites Sally Quinn's article yesterday where she comments on the Saddleback forumn.)

All this led me to think of Harry Potter, naturally. Then I began to think of Jesus. (Yes, that was the order of my thoughts. Sanctification is a process, you know.) First, my thoughts began comparing the houses of Hogwarts. There are: Ravenclaw, the house that chooses the intellectual and witty, then Gryffindor which chooses the brave and chivalrous, Hufflepuff, the loyal and hardworking. The fourth house, Slytherin, chooses the prideful and power hungry. Throughout the series, one sees Gryffindor always leading the way, but not able to accomplish what needs to be done to conquer evil without both Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. (There also is the need for self-sacrifice, but we'll leave that for another post.) What that means politically is an interesting thought. Are those who are courageous and firm in their beliefs better suited for the office of POTUS? What of those that have greater giftings of the intellect? Are they better suited as advisors or congressmen and women? And what of the loyal and hardworking? Was this part of our founders intuition when setting up our government of checks and balances? There may be a some merit to the thought of a Gryffindor or Lion type as president, but I can't help but think the better would be to have all those characteristics prominent in one person.

Of course this is when I thought of Jesus, our Christ. One only has to take a brief look at His life to see all of these in perfect balance and in their fullness. His courage was displayed by confronting the leaders of Israel on their hypocrisy, forgiving sinners, facing the cross and taking on our sins; His wit and intellect in answering questions, many which were asked to trap Him, His teaching and teaching style, and understanding our human nature; His loyalty and hard work in healing the sick, associating and identifying with sinners, and praying to our Father for great stretches of time. These are just a few examples.

While we may not get the president we want or need, we do have a King and High Priest who knows, cares, and reigns in perfection now and forever.